Page 41 of Forged By Fate

Atharva let out a cynical laugh.

“Why are you girls here at all? You don’t need us when you have your husbands to launch Tarana’s musical career,” he said bluntly.

“I keep my music separate from my marriage,” said Tarana, and Tanvir snorted rudely.

“That is such a privileged statement to make,” he said, shaking his head in disgust. “When you know your husband is your safety net.”

“But it’s true. I need you people to understand one thing. You’re taking a big risk by going ahead with this collab. Both our husbands will be furious with us for going behind their backs,” I explained. “And they might take it out on you.”

“Why did you reach out to us?” asked Perpetua. “How did you even know we’re looking for a classical singer? That’s confidential information.”

“I overheard Viren and his assistant talking about you guys before he met with Tanvir this afternoon,” I confessed.

Perpetua stared at me for a few seconds before she grinned.

“You’re sneaky! I like that in a woman,” she said approvingly.

I got the feeling that Tanvir might be the talent, but Perpetua was the brains behind this band.

“But I still don’t get why you’re here,” grumbled Gino. “We’re already on thin ice with Viren. Why should we risk our contract because you girls want to play at being content creators?”

“I’m not playing at anything, buddy. This is my career just as much as it is yours,” snapped Tarana. “I understand if you don’t want to piss Viren off. That’s fine. You don’t have to do this collab if you don’t want to, and there won’t be any hard feelings about it. But don’t put me down before you even know what I’m capable of doing. I don’t sing for a hobby. I am Bhargav Pandit’s daughter and musical heir!”

“And I did give you guys a glimpse of Tarana’s talent. You wouldn’t have invited us over if you didn’t believe she was good,” I reminded them.

“All right, let’s all calm down and start over,” said Perpetua. “It’s time to make some music and see if we can find a way to work together.”

“But how? Viren isn’t going to be very happy about you girls going behind his back,” said Gino, who seemed to be the overthinker of the band.

“That’s why we need to go at this tangentially,” I said. “We need a couple of viral videos for fans to start demanding more collabs between your band and Tarana. Are you tied to Silver Record exclusively?”

“No, our contract is for each album, which is why we need a lead singer if we want them to renew it for our next album,” explained Perpetua.

“Okay, so let’s first try one collab and see how it does,” I said excitedly. “If your fans like your collabs, maybe you could pitch the idea of an album with Tarana as your lead singer.”

The band led us to their studio, and I settled down to record behind-the-scenes content as the rest of them talked about music. Tanvir picked up his electric guitar and sat down cross-legged in front of Tarana.

“Can you run through some sargams for me?” he asked, and she sang a few notes.

He played them back with a rock twist added to the classical sargams. She quickly picked up what he wanted from her, and they played around with different scales and pieces until they were both comfortable. There was a lot of laughter as well as a few arguments as everyone chipped in with a different opinion.

This was marketing gold, I decided. I could use this to make blooper reels and BTS videos.

“What did you have in mind when you thought of a classical singer as your lead?” asked Tarana, and Tanvir stared into the distance for a bit before he spoke.

“I wanted to meld a rare Hindustani classical piece with rock. To create something unique and elevate our music. Do you have any suggestions?”

“How about a thumri by Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Sahab?” asked Tarana thoughtfully. “He wrote it to mourn his wife’s death, and even though it is one of the most poignant and intense thumris I’ve ever heard, I think it would pair very well with your style of playing. Sort of like a rock ballad.”

She sang a few lines, and the stark, intense melody gave me goosebumps. And when Tanvir began to play his electric guitar, I finally realised his vision for his next album.

They rehearsed a few times, and I shot a short video of them singing just one verse of the song. The video began out of focus with Tarana singing the first few notes of the alaap before the camera zoomed onto her face as she sang the first line. Then it panned to Tanvir’s guitar as he played his riff, and then it showed both of them in the same frame.

“Is that it?” asked Tarana, sounding slightly disappointed that the video was so short.

My fingers flew over my phone as I edited the video and uploaded it from her account, with The Bandra Boys as collaborators for the reel.

“I have enough content here for the rest of the week, babe. Let’s see how this reel performs before we figure out our next step. We can ask the viewers if they want to hear the second verse, and so on. That’s how you spin one song over a few weeks until you are ready to drop the whole song on your YouTube channel.”

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